…..Longwith rattled off a laundry list of issues that need to be resolved before the legal dispensaries open for business. Although Measure BB states that security guards should be present at the dispensaries, there is no provision for them to be armed. Given that banks refuse to create accounts for pot clubs, they operate on a cash-only basis, making them vulnerable to strong-arm robberies. And despite the fact that state law allows card-carrying patients 18 and older to smoke cannabis, the city’s law will only allow adults 21 and older into the dispensaries. “There’s an issue right now with regard to military veterans who are coming back from war with PTSD, and they have to bring mommy in with them to get their medicine,” Longwith argues. “There has to be a way we can talk about this and clear up some of these issues.”

While the city manager’s office works out those details, Longwith has organized the lottery winners into the Santa Ana Collective Association. According to Chris Eggers, marketing director with the Longwith Group, the group’s purpose is to create the “best practices” that will guide the legal dispensaries going forward. “What we’re really talking about is best practice compliance,” Eggers says. “And best practice operators tend to be people who do lab testing, keep copious records with the state, pay taxes, regulate access. They are not a nuisance to their neighbors; they don’t have odor issues, don’t sell to minors and don’t have ties to nefarious activities.”

Leave A Comment

About

The Longwith Group is a dynamic team of specialized practitioners offering legal, public policy, business development, financial and compliance services for the emerging class of professionals active in medical marijuana, legal cannabis and related businesses.